Well, friends, let's turn to Luke chapter two this morning. Luke chapter two. All of my Christmas messages are going to tread the same scripture, uh, this year, but we will look at some different facets of it. Luke chapter two. If you were following along in the pew Bible, this is found on page 1,179 Luke chapter two. We will read or I will read chapter two verses one to 20, but I'll be focusing primarily on verses eight to 18. If you have found that in your copy of God's word, let's stand together for the reading of God's word. Luke chapter two verses one to 20 and it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. Let me pause for a minute here. I know that many of you are King James readers, and you might wonder here in the New King James it says registered, in the King James it says taxed. What's the difference? The registration was for the purpose of taxation, so they were together. People of the Roman Empire were being registered so that they might be properly taxed. That's what's going on here, in case you had questions about that. So they're taking a census for the purpose of taxation. All right, verse two. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy. which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign to you. You will find the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest. And on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. So it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds said to one another, let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told them. And this is the word of the Lord. Thank you. You may be seated. Well, I want to talk to you this morning about some contrasts of grace, contrasts of grace. Perhaps in your lifetime you have received some memorable gifts, gifts that still stand out to you over the years. My parents have a picture of me one Christmas, and I'm not even looking at the camera, which I'm sure was a horrible wrongdoing. I'm always supposed to look at the camera. I was looking at the toy, now the toy that I had received, now this is going back a few years, so Rob and Mike, you guys might remember these days, G.I. Joe and Cobra. So back in those days, there were these toys, G.I. Joe were these great American hero soldiers, and Cobra were the bad guys, and I will admit that I actually preferred the bad guys over the good guys. I liked Cobra. Anyways, my parents had bought me this Cobra tank that was part of one of these, you know, I'm sure it's the cause of all kinds of ills in the world, young men playing with toys that had guns. But anyways, I was looking at this tank, and I just had this huge grin on my face. And my eyes are just bright, but I'm looking at the gift instead of at the camera. That's one of those gifts that stands out to me over the years, just because it was something that I wanted so much, and I did not think I was going to get it. And there it was, that gift under the tree. Well, there are other gifts, no doubt, that stand out to you across the years. And many times, you look at the gifts that you've received, and you're grateful for them because they showed someone's love, and they showed someone's goodness to you. They showed kindness. Perhaps a gift that stands out to you is something that you needed at just the right moment. Or perhaps it was just one of those things that you didn't really need, but it sure made life a lot more fun, or something like that. The gift of Jesus does show God's goodness and does show God's love. But even deeper than that, it shows God's grace. You see, when we give gifts to one another, there's normally some kind of a positive relationship between us. We are reaching out to someone that's a friend of ours, or someone that has shown us kindness, and we want to show our appreciation for them, and we want to show that we love them, and so we give those gifts. And God is, of course, doing all of those things with the gift of Christ. But the difference is, the gift of Jesus reaches down in grace. It is a gift of unmerited favor. It's a gift that we don't deserve. It's not that we just deserve to be saved, that we were such good people, that we deserve to have Christ come and live and die for us. No, we were sinners. And we'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute. But Christmas and the gift of Jesus is a revelation of God's grace. And as I was looking at the interaction between the angels and the shepherd, I was reminded of some contrasts in that scene that point us to the greatness of God's grace that is being revealed in that hour. So I want to think about a few of those with you this morning. First contrast of grace is the contrast that is the darkness of night. and the light of the glory of the Lord." The contrast of night and the light of the glory of the Lord. God in His plan and purpose could have had Jesus born at any time. He could have had Jesus be born during the daytime. He could have had Jesus been born in the afternoon. He could have had Jesus been born in the middle of the day at noon. But in God's plan and purpose, God had Jesus born at night. And it wasn't just about God's flair for the dramatic, although God often does things in a very dramatic way. As the shepherds are there in the night, They're keeping watch over their flocks by night, verse eight. And verse nine tells us that the angel of the Lord stood before them. And what happens? The glory of the Lord shone around them. In an amazing way, glory that only rarely would ever be seen upon earth, bursts into their night. The kind of glory that is the glory of the Lord. The kind of glory that is seen usually only in the blessed realm of God himself. We think about this as we read first Timothy chapter six verses 15 and 16. It speaks about Jesus who is the only potentate King of Kings and Lord of Lords who alone has immortality dwelling in unapproachable light. that light bursts forth on that dark hillside outside of Bethlehem. There's more happening there than just a dramatic entrance. For in what the angels are announcing, you see the light of the world invading the darkness of earth. This is a theme that runs throughout the scriptures, but it's very prevalent in John's gospel. The theme of darkness, darkness of sin and ignorance and despair and sorrow over against light. In particular, the light of Christ. Back in John chapter one, It tells us John chapter one verse five, and the light shined in the darkness or shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. Some translations have did not overcome it because the words are very similar in the original language. That theme continues in John chapter one where it speaks of Jesus as the true light, which gives light to every man coming into the world. Can we doubt, brothers and sisters, that our world lies in a condition of darkness? Can we doubt as we look around that our world is not in the light of the glory of the Lord, the light of Christ? We look around and we see the evidence of sin around us. We see the despair and sorrow around us. We see and hear of wars. We see and hear of crime and death. The world is in darkness. This announcement of the coming of Christ and the light which burst onto the scene is emblematic of the light of the world that has come and burst into our darkness. John chapter three, again, as I mentioned, John speaks much about this theme of light and darkness. John chapter three says, this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light. Why? Because their deeds were evil. Jesus would speak in John chapter eight. We remember Rob speaking about this a couple of months ago. Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. And so this contrast of the darkness of night and the glory of the Lord is more than just a dramatic entrance of the angels. It's emblematic of the fact that the light of the world has come to the sin darkened world, that light now shines in Christ. This reminds us that in Christ, there is a grace that pierces our darkness. There is a grace that pierces our darkness. I've spoken to a lot of people this season that seem to be experiencing an extraordinary amount of sorrow and difficulty. And I want to remind you that the light of the world has come. And just as the light of the world can pierce through the darkness of our sins, so the light of the world can pierce through the darkness of our despair and give us hope that is greater than just the hope of this world can give us eternal hope. Isaiah chapter nine prophetically speaks and says, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them, a light has shined. And I think that every single one of us who has trusted in Christ can say that of ourselves. We were dwelling in a land that is like the shadow of death, the curse of death, the curse of our sin hung over our heads. We face the certain prospect of the second death apart from Christ. But God who is rich in mercy showed us our need, opened our eyes to the light of the world, Jesus Christ. But that light did not simply once shine when we came to faith. This is why John chapter one says, the light shines in the darkness. Brothers and sisters, the darkness of night contrasted with the glory of the Lord, reminds us of a grace that pierces our darkness. We're in Luke chapter two already. Let me just show you this in the life of Simeon. Since we're there already, you might remember, there was at the time of Christ's birth, there's a devout man who's living in Jerusalem. When Jesus is presented in the temple, the Holy Spirit reveals The Holy Spirit had revealed that he would not see death until he'd seen the Lord's Christ. And by the Spirit, he comes into the temple and there he sees Jesus. And if you're there in Luke 2, just look down with me, if you would, at verses 29 to 32. So here's this elderly man who has been living to see Jesus. And the spirit brings him to that place where he sees Jesus. And he says, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people, Israel. Notice that this light brings revelation to the Gentiles, not to the Jews. It's a light that, as John chapter one said, lights every man that comes into this world. And so the first contrast, a contrast of the darkness of night and the glory of God, reminding us of a grace that pierces our darkness. But there's another contrast, a second one that I see in this passage, a contrast of angels and shepherds. Verse 8, again, tells us that there were, in the same country, shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. It's an interesting place that shepherds had in the culture of their day. They were kind of ostracized and even looked down on, it seems strangely enough, particularly by those that were the religious crowd. Now why it's so strange is that the religious crowd needed these shepherds because the shepherds were the ones that provided the lambs for the sacrifices. But it seems that to most of society that was about, you know, we'll put up with them just for that. They're a necessary evil. Which is very strange to me because if you look back in Israel's history, all of Israel had at one time been shepherds. This is how their lives were preserved in Egypt, remember? They went to Egypt, and Joseph told the Pharaoh, my family, they're shepherds. And so their, Joseph's family, because the Egyptians didn't like shepherds either, didn't like those that worked with livestock, the family of Jacob, all the early Israelites, they're given their own land, they're given their own area, and they develop as a nation parallel to the rest of Egypt. They're not just assumed and assimilated into the Egyptian culture. They remain distinct. And they survived there in Egypt, where they would have perished back in the Promised Land due to the famine. But over the years, it seemed that people got a little bit high and mighty for the shepherds. And a lot of the people of that society didn't really like the shepherds. They were kind of a necessary evil. Yeah, we need them for, yeah, they provide the sheep that are going to give us some clothes and some sacrifices, but, you know, We don't really like them that much. They kind of smell like sheep after all. And they live out in the fields a lot of the time. And here we are, cultured and civilized, living in homes. Well, you have the angels in contrast to these shepherds. The angels, the scripture tells us, are mighty in strength. Angels are, they're like a flame of fire. the scripture tells us. The angels are so glorious that we see in two occasions in the book of Revelation that John, who is a true believer, who knows the Lord, but he is so amazed by the angel and what the angel shows him and declares to him in the book of Revelation, that he falls at the angel's feet to worship the angel. And it's not like John does not know the scriptures that say, worship the Lord only and him only shall you serve. But the angels are so great and so glorious that repeatedly in scripture you see people being absolutely terrified by them or being so wowed by them that they're tempted to worship them. You have humble shepherds and powerful, glorious angels. But there's a contrast that's intentional because it reminds us that God's grace reaches to all peoples. It was not just announced to some lofty group. Yes, there will be the Magi for whom God will craft a particular star that they can follow to see the Christ child. But here, the angels that are the personal emissaries of God, they come not to the high and to the lofty, but they come to shepherds. living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock at night. It's a reminder of the grace that reaches to all peoples. Jesus is not simply a savior, a gift for one ethnic group. Jesus is not simply a gift and a savior for one economic class. He's not just a gift and a savior for people that like one style of or one level or style of living. Jesus is a savior for all peoples. The angels not only show it by bringing the message to the shepherds, they speak it. The angel says, these good tidings of great joy are for all people. And in this contrast between angels and shepherds, we see a grace that reaches to all classes, to all peoples. And that's something to rejoice in. As I look across this auditorium, I'm not intending to insult anyone here, but I don't see a lot of the people that are currently on the who's who list of Toronto. We are probably not to be numbered among the most influential and powerful people of Ontario. Probably none of us are making that list. But I'm so grateful that God's grace reaches to us. So we see a contrast of the darkness of night and the glory of the Lord. You see this contrast between angels and shepherds. The contrast of darkness and light shows us that the grace of God and Christ pierces our darkness. The contrast of angels and shepherds reminds us that the grace of God and Christ reaches to all peoples. Third, an amazing contrast you see later in the passage, heaven and God. and earth and man. What an incredible contrast that is. Verse 14, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. Years ago when the first Russian cosmonaut went up into space, of course, Russia at that time was openly and professedly atheistic. So the cosmonaut came back to Earth and loudly and mockingly proclaimed that he knew there was no God because he had gone all the way out into space and hadn't seen him. Of course, it's a silly argument. Even if God were simply to be, you know, could just travel to his house in space, there's a whole lot more space than that cosmonaut saw. But there's a lot of difference between God and his existence and us and our spatial existence. And C.S. Lewis responded essentially in this way. He said that it's like if Hamlet, in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, if Hamlet was going to encounter Shakespeare, Hamlet couldn't just look around and run into Shakespeare. He couldn't just travel to a different part of the set and experience Shakespeare, because Shakespeare existed in a different dimension than Hamlet did. Hamlet was a character. Shakespeare was the author. And C.S. Lewis said that if Hamlet was to discover Shakespeare, if he was to encounter Shakespeare, Shakespeare would have to write himself into the play. It's the only way that Hamlet would actually encounter Shakespeare. Now here's the amazing thing, and we see this contrast, heaven and God, earth and man. It's a reminder that in Jesus Christ, God has written himself into our story. We could never have encountered him on our own. Yes, the heavens declare his glory, but we would never have encountered him. We would have never encountered him in the same saving way. It would have been impossible for us. But in Jesus, God wrote himself into the story. And this contrast then between heaven and God and earth and man reminds us of a grace that bridges a chasm that we cannot cross. We think about the greatness and the difference between God and man. Isaiah 55 verses 8 and 9, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways, or your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. How much higher are the heavens than the earth? Well, there's so much higher than the earth that people that study astronomy are actually wondering and debating whether space is infinite. Now, space is not infinite because it's created, but it is so vast and so big that we wonder if it's infinite. That's how much higher God's thoughts and ways are above ours. And yet this God, whose thoughts and ways are that much higher than ours, has stooped, has condescended. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. You think about how God describes himself. I love the description that God gives in Isaiah chapter 40. Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundation of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth. Its inhabitants are like grasshoppers who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. Of course, this is figurative language, but for God, spreading out the heavens is like us opening or closing our curtains. That's how great he is. He brings the princes to nothing. He makes the judges of the earth useless. Scarcely shall they be planted. Scarcely shall they be sown. Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth. When he also will blow on them and they will wither. The whirlwind will take them away like stubble. To whom then will you liken me? Or to whom shall I be equal? And that's not a question where God's looking for an answer. It's a rhetorical question. that when you look at how great God is, there's nothing that can compare to him. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things. So he says, look into the heavens. And it's interesting that he says, lift up your eyes on high and not just look at those things, but look at the one who created them. The greatness of the heavens, the greatness of the universe is a window to the greatness of God. If these things are amazing, how much more amazing is the God who created them? He brings out their host by number. He calls them all by name. By the greatness of his might and the strength of his power, not one is missing. Why do you say, why do you say, oh, Jacob, and speak, oh, Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord. My just claim is passed over by my God. Have you not known? Have you not heard? everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable." And it is this God, it is this God who has bridged that gap, who's crossed that chasm. We were unable and unwilling to do so. Man's greatest efforts, man's best efforts to bridge that chasm are laughable. Think back with me to the Tower of Babel, the Tower of Babel. What are we going to do? We're going to make our name for ourselves. We're going to build a tower that reaches into the heavens. They have this God complex. The scripture says that God looked and then he came down to see what they were doing. It's not saying that God had bad eyesight and he couldn't see from that high. It's saying that their efforts were so laughable, it's like a word picture, he has to get on his knees to look at them. And this is their tower that reaches to heaven. It is that God, so much greater and more glorious than we could even imagine, who is stooped and in Christ has come to our world. written himself into our story to save us from our sins. There is a final one that I wanna look at. There are many more, but there's a final one I want us to think about this morning. And that is simply the contrast of a sinner or sinners and a savior. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior. We thought about this last week, didn't we? What a contrast there is between the Savior and sinners. What grace there is that sinners would even be given a Savior. We think about who Jesus is, and there's a reason why I had us earlier look at Luke chapter one, Jesus is referred to as the Holy One. The Holy One. I'm sure that you all know, we've talked about this a number of times, the holiness of God. There are two aspects to the holiness of God. There is the majestic aspect of the holiness of God. When we say that God is utterly himself, he is unlike anyone else. You cannot as God himself says, liken him to anyone else. He is holy. He is set apart. He is a cut above. And that's the majestic dimension of God's holiness. But there's also that dimension of God's holiness, which is spoken of in history or in scripture and revealed in history in Christ. And that is the moral dimension of holiness. When God says that we are to be holy as He is holy, where He is not telling us that we're to be somehow omniscient or not to be immutable. What it's saying is that we are to be righteous as God is righteous. But there's only one who's truly good and that is God. The triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit are the only ones who are truly good. And Jesus is the Holy One. We are sinners. We sing that hymn. Guilty, vile, and helpless we. Spotless Lamb of God was He. The Savior was the spotless, holy, perfect Lamb of God. succeeding in every area where we have failed. He is described in Hebrews chapter seven, verse 26 as holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. That expression separate from sinners is not saying that Jesus had nothing to do with sinners, but rather that in his moral conduct, as you look at Jesus, there was an obvious gap between who Jesus was and everybody else. Even in Jesus' own time, he would say, which of you can convict me of sin? And he would say that before his enemies. So much so that when, and no one could give an answer, when they end up trying to try Jesus, what do they do? They get false witnesses. And even those witnesses can't get their story straight. Jesus is the Holy One. And this is why he could be, in the words of John, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, because he was that holy, spotless sacrifice. He was God in the flesh. What grace this reminds us of. If the darkness contrasted with the light of the glory of God reminds us that God's grace in Christ pierces our darkness. And if the contrast between angels and shepherds reminds us that God's grace in Christ reaches to all peoples. If the contrast between heaven and earth, God and man reminds us that God's grace in Christ bridges a chasm that we could not cross. The contrast between a savior and sinners reminds us very simply God's grace in Christ reaches to rebels. Reaches down to people like us. It's astonishing to me, as I look at this, that this amazing event would have such limited influence. Have you ever thought about that? Such news should have spread throughout the whole of the nation. Angels come. Glory of the Lord shines. Even the shepherds spread the news. It should have prompted far more than the limited visits by the shepherds, the recognition of Simeon and Anna, and the later visit of the wise men, as it should have, in our thinking. Of course, we understand that this is interrupted as Jesus goes to Egypt to escape the murderous intention of Herod. But the event of Jesus' announcement of his birth and his identity ought to have been remembered. It ought to have remained in the public memory. One preacher of years gone by said, it seems to have had no effect beyond the narrow circle and for a time. It was apparently utterly forgotten when 30 years later, the carpenter's son began his ministry. It is likely that in those 30 years, the shepherds passed away. But others ought to have remembered that. Now we consider this and we think, why wasn't it remembered? But we might turn that focus back on our own selves and say, why don't we remember it? Why is this grace that is revealed to us in Christ not remembered by us? If we are reminded that God's grace reaches in and pierces our darkness, should we not seek him for his grace in our darkness? Should we not seek others who walk through the shadows to share God's grace with them? If we're reminded God's grace reaches to all classes of people. Should we not ourselves have love and kindness for more than people that just look like us and have the same desires and the same kind of taste that we have? If God's grace bridges a chasm that we could never cross, I wonder what barriers that we maybe ought to be crossing to proclaim that grace to others, even as God has reached down to us. As we remember that God's grace reaches to rebels, what joy we ought to live with that we've been a recipient of that grace. So brothers and sisters, these contrasts point us to the greatness of God's grace. But may we, unlike the people of this time and culture, remember God's grace. May it be a constant, ongoing knowledge and reality in our lives this season and every season. That in Christ, God's grace pierces our darkness. In Christ, God's grace reaches to all peoples. In Christ, God's grace crosses a chasm that we could never cross. And in Christ, God's grace reaches to rebels. May God give us the grace to remember this and to live in light of its truth this season and every season. Amen.